


Comfort

by througheden



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: M/M, Possibly Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-30
Updated: 2013-06-30
Packaged: 2017-12-16 16:24:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/864102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/througheden/pseuds/througheden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The first time Hotch invited Reid into his office was a week after Gideon left." </p>
<p>Pre-slash if you want it to be?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Just a small drabble I wrote in response to a friend's thoughts on Hotch and Reid comforting one another. It started out as a reply and turned into this.

The first time Hotch invited Reid into his office was a week after Gideon left. 

He knew Reid was taking it hard— Hotch didn’t need to be a profiler to know that Gideon’s leaving was just another tally in Reid’s list of those who have abandoned him.

Truthfully, Hotch was furious with Gideon for leaving the way he did. He knew Reid’s past, knew that Reid looked up to him, that he was the father figure Reid never had. How Gideon could abandon Reid after all he was already battling was beyond Hotch, but there was no point in dwelling in anger on Reid’s behalf. All he could do now was be sure he was holding up.

***

Spencer had rarely been in Hotch’s office for anything besides work before. It felt strange, sitting across from Hotch discussing literature and profiling techniques without the weight of an impending murder sitting on their shoulders. Strange— but not uncomfortable. And if Reid was being honest with himself, it gave him the opportunity to check up on his boss.

Spencer knew Hotch’s marriage was in trouble, even more so now that he’d agreed to take on more responsibility with the bureau. He saw in the way his neck tensed, the way his shoulders sat a bit closer to this ears than usual; he’d seen him pacing in his office late at night when everyone else had gone home, his brow furrowed as he held a cell phone tight to his ear.

***

They each carried burdens too heavy to hold alone, but too personal to discuss. So they helped themselves the only way they knew how— by helping each other. Hotch let Spencer talk, let him ramble about Russian literature and obscure traffic statistics. He gave him an outlet and allowed for completely open dialogue so that, if his burden became too much, Spencer knew he had somewhere to go.

Spencer, on the hand, lightened Hotch’s mood and brightened his spirits. He knew intuitively that Hotch’s home life was crumbling. At work, there was nothing but stress and burden, darkness and not-so-happy endings. At home, there was nothing but yelling and blame hidden beneath a sheer mask of domesticity, a family bowing to the weight of his responsibilities. So, between analyses of  _Anna Karenina_  and debating the pros and cons of technology with Hotch (“It’s possible you’ve watched  _I, Robot_  too many times, Reid”), Spencer tried out different magic tricks.

They were simple— coins appearing from thin air, pencils standing straight on their tips, cards appearing in Hotch’s never-ending stack of paperwork. They were simple, but they made Hotch smile. And when Spencer made an empty film container blast across the room, it made Hotch laugh.

It was a strange feeling for Hotch, forgetting his stress and laughing. It was odd for Spencer, finding himself laughing along with Hotch. But there they were, two agents finding solace in making the other a little less miserable.

***

When Spencer finally had to leave, he did so feeling lighter than he had in weeks.

And if he’d turned around to look at Hotch through the window, he’d have seen his boss wearing the exact same smile.


End file.
